Word of the Day for Sunday September 18, 2005 bacchanalia \bak-uh-NAIL-yuh\, noun: 1. (plural, capitalized) The ancient Roman festival in honor of Bacchus, celebrated with dancing, song, and revelry. 2. A riotous, boisterous, or drunken festivity; a revel. Alpha Epsilon brothers began their bacchanalia with an off-campus keg party featuring "funneling," in which beer is shot through a rubber hose into the drinker's mouth. --Adam Cohen, "Battle of the Binge," [1]Time, September 8, 1997 This is not at all to suggest that the Revolution was a sort of non-stop bacchanalia, but that partial drunkenness was often an important component in a certain type of revolutionary excitability, particularly in meetings or committees. --Richard Cobb, The French and Their Revolution _________________________________________________________ Bacchanalia comes from Latin, from Bacchus, god of wine, from Greek Bakkhos. The adjective form is bacchanalian. One who celebrates the Bacchanalia, or indulges in drunken revels, is a bacchanal \BAK-uh-nuhl; bak-uh-NAL\, which is also another term for a drunken or riotous celebration. References 1. http://www.time.com/time Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=9&q=bacchanalia